A Fool's Errand
by Aelsthla-Mental
Summary: I thought I was smarter then the rest. Go into the outskirts of the fog, kill what I found and obtain their souls to get stronger, and get out. Don't get greedy, don't get too far. I failed, I was killed. Now i'm trapped doing some woman's bidding.
1. Prologue

The land of Boletaria… How the mighty had fallen.

As I kept my eyes out for opposition, I couldn't help but notice the wreckage.

How long had it been since this area had been engulfed by fog? Surely not long, the fog kept expanding, swallowing more and more territory. Slow enough that the countries who knew of the plight cared little for it, as it wouldn't reach them until beyond their lifetime. Leave it for the next generation was the general consensus of those nations.

I was inclined to agree, the fog had seemed to be a death trap at first. People went in, and nobody came out. One nation had been foolish enough to send an entire army in, and a messenger later on to try and find out what had happened. It wasn't like the fog was a wall, a fun little game the children played was jumping in and out of it. Anyone who tried to go deeper simply didn't return.

But then someone had come out. And oh did he bring stories. Perhaps what I've heard has been exaggerated for dramatic effect and simple drunken forgetfulness, but even so, it still had to be impressive.

Souls… The fog seemed to prevent souls from escaping upon a person's death; they could be used as a way to strengthen oneself, to make one escape the boundaries of humanity.

And the soul of a Demon, fuelled by thousands of consumed human souls and combined with its own demonic power, could make one become something akin to a god. Returning with that power… Well, it could solve a lot of my problems back at home.

So, like the other eager adventurers who had recently gone off for some foolish notion of heroism or reasons similar to mine, I had entered the fog into Boletaria.

I was no fool; going too far into the fog would get me killed from the denizens who had made their home there. But in the outskirts surely there would be weaker demons, or people who refused to leave, to obtain souls from. As tempting as finding the soul of a true demon would be, I'd have to be an idiot to go looking for those kinds of creatures. No, leave that sort of thing to the foolish and suicidal. I think I'll manage just being beyond human.

I smirked, movement. A rather pathetic sight, some barely human being with a short sword in hand. Seeing me, with a groan it awkwardly moved forward, until finally lunging, sword outstretched,

My shield moved to intercept. The enemy struck with surprising, but not unbearable, force. My curved blade retaliated and cut through his chest, snuffing out his life.

And when it died, There was a… Feeling. Was this what it was like to obtain a soul? It was…

…Kind of disappointing really, it was sort of a pitiful attempt to make me feel positive, but it fell flat. I didn't feel any stronger either, to experiment I gave my sword a couple of swings. I can't tell any difference. Perhaps that thing's soul was simply pitiful? Yes, that was it, I should probably move on a bit further.

So I moved on, noting the less damaged architecture, which became more and more complete as I moved on until there was only the odd chunk missing, and I found myself entering a keep.

I vaguely recall this place in a map of Boletaria, an outpost that used to be at the border of the land, Boletaria had since grown and the outpost had been abandon and replaced further along, but by the look of the occasional corpse, some group of soldiers had probably made this place their final stand.

Also, by the look of how much the corpses had decayed, the battle had ended some time ago. It wouldn't surprise me if the things I had fought now were soul-deprived "Survivors" of the battle, which might account for me not feeling even a tad stronger.

I kept moving through the keep, until finally I came across something a bit more… intimidating.

In front of me was either a demon or a soul-powered human, if the glowing blue eyes amidst his concealing armour. Either way, his death would give me the power I craved.

Grinning, I readied my blade. The blue-eyed knight charged, shield forward, blade aiming for my heart.

I sidestepped the blow, and struck. The force of my blow managed to dig into the armour and pierce flesh, much to my satisfaction, unfortunately, my opponent didn't consider such an injury worth it's time and struck again without hesitation.

The blade nicked my sword arm as I backed off to avoid the attack. I gritted my teeth, convincing myself that the pain was simply punishment for underestimating the thing. Of course anything powered by the souls I desired would be more resistant then a regular human, that's one of the things I desired from it.

A third slash from the thing was already on it's way. This time I slammed my shield into the blade, managing to knock it to the side.

An opening, and I quickly followed the parry with a riposte, plunging the blade right into its heart. Not the optimal technique for a curved blade like mine, which was far more effective for slashing. But in this case, it was still very effective.

The thing didn't survive. I could see the blue eyes fade, and I forced it to the ground, before finally pulling my sword out after one mighty pull and a "squelch", blood pooling out of the wound. I cleaned my sword, eyeing the corpse and taking a step back to be safe. Still, I was happy to know that whatever the thing was, it had internal organs to pierce.

I should have stopped there, had I not previously thought myself not the fool those others who had never escaped?

And yet I moved on. The fog grew thicker, but I pressed on through the keep.

I went through a doorway, and for a moment the fog completely obscured my vision. When my vision cleared, all I could do was freeze up.

In front of me was a demon, a real demon. The large hall I had entered could barely contain it; it was a wonder how it got in. Three yellow eyes, a giant axe in a thick, muscular hand.

Naturally, my next instinct was to turn around and run. But the fog that I had mere moments ago gone through may as well have been a solid wall, I fell back, stunned, my nose burning.

But not as much as the axe as it struck my back. Every nerve seemed to be on fire, I couldn't breath, I could twitch my head slightly, but when I did, I immediately wish I hadn't. As my vision faded away, all I could see were fragments of my spine in a pool of my blood.

Normally, that would be the end of a story… But then, how am I thinking all this?

What is going on?

* * *

><p><em><strong>What indeed... Well, if you're reading this, odds are you know. But the chapter felt like it should be finished here, mainly cause past tense felt ok for this chapter, but not for the others. Perhaps i'll edit it later to switch this chapter to present tense for a more consistent story, but we'll see.<strong>_

_**Anyway, this story is pretty much going to be a sort of playthrough, although i'm questioning if this person will actually make it the whole way through... we'll see.**_

_**I will be taking some liberties though, extra dialogue from NPCs for one (a bit more conversational, really), perhaps the occasional taking of a third option, and maybe some alterations of the levels.**_

_**Dunno why I thought i'd say all that, but oh well. Hope you enjoyed the prologue, and hope you enjoy the rest of the story!**_


	2. A Cold Welcome

'Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel. Let strength be granted so the world might be mended.'

…A voice? Was this the afterlife? No, it couldn't be. I was killed in the fog, one's soul could not escape the fog.

…But the voice was female, and sure as hell didn't sound demonic. And as she spoke, I began to feel. Not emotions, I have no idea what she is babbling on about. I mean I could feel arms, legs, a body.

'Soul of the lost, withdrawn from its vessel. Let strength be granted so the world might be mended, so the world might be mended.

I tried moving. What was meant to be a slow rising of my arm turned into it shooting right up.

…I can see. At first I thought it was just black, but no, this is the ground, some sort of black glass with rippling golden symbols.

I tilted my head to my arm. It seemed to glow, and it felt… Well, I could feel it. But something was off. A warrior had to feel familiar with their body as much as they needed to with their weapon, They needed to know the weight of each limb, how much force needed for a solid strike that wouldn't leave one vulnerable.

I shot up… Damn, I didn't mean to do that, now my head aches.

'Where am I?' Turning my head again, I saw the person who I assume had been speaking before. A woman, dressed in black, her eyes obscured by what looked like candle wax. 'Who are you? What am I doing here?'

'This is the Nexus.' She spread her arms. I looked up.

Damn, this place is huge. I can see staircases leading towards the top, which would have towered over the demon that had gotten me into this mess. Gold and blacks were the primary colour of the area, made from some sort of shiny stone.

…Yeah, this place must have taken a long time to build.

And yet, it was so empty.

Were there others? My gaze began a sweep of the area around me. My gaze was drawn to a glowing blue man. But he turned his gaze down the moment he saw me looking at him. There was a man who, if the beating metal on an anvil was anything to go by, is a blacksmith. He didn't even seem to glance up at me.

…And one other, a man who did not fear my gaze. He stared at me with a smile. A weak smile perhaps, but it seemed genuine.

With that done, I turned back to the woman. 'And the Nexus is… where exactly?'

'The Nexus _binds_ the land of Boletaria together.' She turned.

'That doesn't answer my question!' She ignored me, and kept moving. 'Hey, stop right there, damn you! I want some real answers.

With my blade at her neck, she finally stopped. 'Very well, you died. I know now how, perhaps you fell many a demon, perhaps cowering you were slaughtered by the first demon or madman you found. What I do know is that I saved your soul from being consumed, I snatched you away to the Nexus for a second chance at life.' She shook ever so slightly. Afraid? I brought the blade closer to her neck. No change.

It wasn't fear, it was impatience. She had a blade to the neck, and she was impatient?

The blade tightened further, before I released it with a sigh. 'Then what do I do next?'

'That is up to you, but perhaps you should talk to the others. Be warned, thou canst escape the Nexus, not truly. Try to escape if thou desire, but it is pointless.'

Not that it mattered, even if I got out of here, I wouldn't know where to begin.

She walked away, heading up one of the two staircases I could see. I turned to the one man who had looked at me happily, giving a polite bow before coming up to him. 'Hello, who might you be?'

'My name is Thomas.' He brought his hand out in invitation, I accepted the gesture.

'Your friends don't seem as pleased by me coming here as you do.' I whispered, making no motion towards those I spoke of. He probably knew who I was talking about.

'Oh, do not mind them. One is all too engrossed in their work to care about much at all.' He pointed to the blacksmith. 'And the other… well, he has lost hope. It's usually best to ignore him.'

'I don't suppose you could tell me much about this place?'

He frowned, putting an open palm on his head. 'Aahh… Not much, really. This place is called The Nexus, that woman in black told me that much. From what I understand, this place may well be the one sanctuary in Boletaria.'

'The ONLY… Are there others around here?'

'About three others who don't seem to be here at the moment. A magician and a couple of priests. I do hope they're not at each other's throats elsewhere…' He craned his neck to look at the surrounding area. '…I should probably mention it to the woman in black.'

With that, he hurriedly ran… The opposite staircase the woman had started going up the last time I had seen her. Aahh well.

Thomas had recommended I not speak to that other man. But he may know something about the glowing thing. I eyed his blue form. I got the feeling he was watching me out of the corner of his eye as I advanced towards him.

'Hello there.'

'Hello.' Was the rather curt reply, he didn't even look at me when he said it.

'So, what's your name?'

'Doesn't matter.'

'ok…' Now he was really bugging me. 'My name's'

'Look!' He spoke suddenly, loudly, his voice quietened when he continued. 'Just stop beating around the bush. Ask me what you have to, and leave me alone.'

'Well, for starters, why are we glowing?

'because it isn't flesh that forms us, but rather a construct of our soul. He sighed. 'To be blunt, I don't understand it entirely. But the point is we are currently not flesh and blood, although we are far from invulnerable. Indeed, this form is far weaker then a true body.'

Well, that was confusing. Then again, I never was into magic. 'Alright, well, what should I do next?'

'Well, Soul Hunter.' He gave a… grimace? A failed attempt at a smile? I'm not entirely sure. 'I can call you Soul Hunter, yes? It is the reason you came here, I imagine. No other reason one would come to this accursed land. If you seek souls to strengthen yourself, you should try one of the archstones. He waved behind him, where a stone slab reminiscent of a tombstone lay. A knight was carved upon it. Blade down in a resting pose. 'May as well get that out of your system, if you're lucky, you might survive the ordeal and be able to return alive.'

Well, Thomas was certainly right. But at least the man had some information. I walked over to the "Archstone", as he called it. The man watched me as, hesitantly, I stretched my hand out and…

The world twisted and warped around me.


End file.
